Delco-based filmmakers bring work to Philly’s First Glance Film Festival
The work of local filmmakers will be part of the official selection for the 20th FirstGlance Film Festival in Philadelphia this weekend.
Chadds Ford resident Bill Haley and Drexel Hill native Derek Frey will have their short projects screen at the local independent film festival. Haley’s short horror film “Tagati” and Frey’s music video “God Came ‘Round” will be shown on the festival’s final day on Oct. 8.
According to the festival’s roster, “Tagati” is about a ruthless mercenary who has his sights set on a scheming wife. But that night will become a “much stranger place” for the baddest hit man in town.
“Tagati” was produced through Haley’s Chester Heights-based production company Allied Pixel and is the first collaboration between Haley and writer Alex Duza.
“I was really intrigued by Andre’s novels like ‘Technicolor Terrorists’ and it occurred to me that it would be fun to bring his vision to the screen,” said Haley. “So we collaborated on a new story called ‘Tagati.’ This film is actually the first scene of what we hope will become a feature length movie.”
Haley added that working on independent features like “Tagati” allows his production team to “spread their wings creatively.”
On the opposite end of the story spectrum is Frey’s music video for rock group Professor T and the Eastside Shredders’ song “God Came ‘Round.” The video stars Deep Roy — who portrayed the Oompa Loompas in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” — as a lonely flower seller who falls in love with a girl, portrayed by “The Grudge 3’s” Aiko Horiuchi, who doesn’t like him. Roy plays all of the major players in the film including a leprechaun, God and a ghost.
“I was drawn to (the song) because the lyrics involved fantastical situations and paranormal elements,” said Frey. “A lot of these lyrics aren’t meant to be taken literally. As someone that’s always been interested in the paranormal, the pairing of (Roy) with ghosts, leprechauns and aliens was something I had to do.”
The video has a more understated relationship between Roy and Horiuchi that Frey noted. He said it was Roy’s Oompa Loompa character and Horiuchi’s titular Grudge ghost falling in love.
“God Came ‘Round” is Frey’s fourth FirstGlance selection following “Sketch” in 2001 and “Motel Providence” in 2015, both playing in Philadelphia, and “The Upper Hand” at the fest’s Los Angeles installation in 2000.
Haley had taken the mockumentary “Steve Phoenix: The Untold Story” to Philly’s FirstGlance fest in 2012 where it won best comedy feature film.
Frey and Haley may be FirstGlance veterans, but they expressed their appreciation for the festival and the opportunity it brings to the area to see professional productions from local talent.
“For me, Delco and Philly is still very important to me, and to be recognized (at FirstGlance) is the best thing because you have an opportunity of people from your hometown to see your work,” said Frey, who made “God Came ‘Round” under his Lazer Film Productions banner.
Haley said the cast and crew of “Tagati” is Phillybased, and the festival is a good opportunity for them to get together.
“For many of them, it’ll be the first time they see the finished film,” he said.
Over the last few years the film landscape of Delco has been evolving. From the shooting of the Oscarwinning “Silver Linings Playbook” to the opening of a film and television production facility in Chester Township, and even a Comedy Central-ordered series called “Delco Proper”, Delco has been exposing its creative minds and locations to the world.
“It’s funny, but Delco has become a bit of a hotbed for production,” said Haley. “We’ve been doing this for 24 years and in the early days, filmmaking was such a different craft than it is today. That was the very beginning of digital and nonlinear editing, which have been such game changers for the business. In those days, a good camera and editing system could easily cost north of $200,000. There were very few of us doing it locally.
“Now you can get set up for a fraction of that. So filmmaking has become much more democratized, and there are so many talented, diverse people doing really interesting work.”
In addition to heading Lazer Films, Frey also leads Tim Burton Productions and has helped bring films like “Big Eyes” and “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” to the silver screen, but coming back to Delco to shoot films with friends keeps him grounded, and the creative juices flowing.
“People find me a bit of a curiosity because I work with Tim Burton, but what I always say to people is doing music videos and shorts around Delco helped me maintain those roots and fuels my creativity. It’s a strange dynamic,” he said.
Frey looks to shoot a film next year in Delco.
“God Came ‘Round” screens during the Sunday afternoon screening block starting at 3:45, and “Tigati” will screen during the closing night screening block stating at 6:30. Tickets are available at firstglancefilms.com/tickets.